Broken Memories 02.15.06: Musical Misconceptions
Posted by Brandon Ratliff on 02.15.2006
Everyone has them at some point...
First off, let me say thanks for reading if you haven't before. If you have, yes, this is the first time I've done one of these in about two months or so (the last was December 15th, so yeah, two months exactly). Why the delay? Well, I would say lack of topics, but I've had this idea in mind since the last time I did the column, so that's not it. Honestly, it was more that I haven't had the time to than anything. I'm doing a lot of catching up tonight though, so I figured now would be as good of time as any to bring it back. It will not be a regular thing though, but rather something I will do when I have the time and topic to do it. How often will that be? I have no idea really, but I will always do my best to put out the best column I can. So, take that for what you will, and I hope you enjoy reading it since I'm putting a lot of thought into writing it.
So, everyone at some point or another has a misconception about something. Call it stereotyping, first impressions, discrimination. Call it what you will, but we all go through them. How does that relate to music though?
Well, it's simple. Guns N' Roses has been a hot topic around here recently, so we'll take them and their (allegedly) upcoming album Chinese Democracy for example. So many of you will say this exact quote:
"It's not Guns N' Roses without Slash and Duff."
Incorrect. Did you know Slash was not the original lead guitarist for the band? Did you ever wonder where the Guns from Guns N' Roses came from? Well I'm going to tell you. Traci Guns, from L.A. Guns, was the original lead guitarist for the band, hence the Guns. Makes a lot more sense now eh? Indeed.
So, with that being said, do you still maintain that statement? If so, it's understandable for the simple fact that Guns N' Roses have only really been known for their work when Slash was around. So, let's look at this statement objectively. It's not Guns N' Roses without Slash. What about their brief run with Buckethead, one of the most original rock guitarists I've personally ever heard of? Granted, they did no albums (to my knowledge anyways) with him, but even so. They still toured...kind of. People still went and saw them. So who is the guitarist(s) on Chinese Democracy? Who knows, but that may as well be a plural since it's been under construction for what, eight years now? I don't know.
You have to look at it this way though, Axl Rose is still there, so shouldn't that be enough? Considering how long the album has been in the making, I honesly can't see how anyone (especially former fans of the band) can't at least be intrigued enough to want to hear it. I'm not even that big of a fan and I am curious as to how good (or not good, as the case may be) it'll be.
Thom Hazaert (GN'R enthusiast and president of Corporate Punishment Records) just named off a few guys playing on it. He told me the following: Tommy Stinson (The Replacements), Buckethead (which I'm happy to hear), Sean Beaven, Brian May (Queen), Brian Mantia (Primus), Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction), Robin Finck (Nine Inch Nails), Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus, Paul Tobias, Gary Sunshine and Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle). This obviously wouldn't be all of the contributers, but some of them. He also believes it'll be one of the biggest selling records of all time, just from morbid curiosity. When asked if it'll be any good, he said this: "Yeah, it'll be good. (Axl Rose has) had some incredible players on it. I just hope they aren't terribly overproducing it or whatever."
But will it? To be honest, with a lineup like that, it may be more of an all-stars record that Axl Rose is singing over, but I honestly can't see how anyone, ESPECIALLY old fans wouldn't be interested to hear it. I'm not even that big of a fan, and I am interested in hearing it.
Wouldn't it be a stroke of irony if Rose got Traci Guns to record a song for it?
Why all of the apathy though? Is it because people have grown tired of waiting, and will just throw away a band they may have once claimed to be their favorite? Scott Rose from Rikets had this to say: "Not really interested in it. No Slash, no Duff, no Matt. I'm not into it...unless it kills. Then I'll listen to it." Is this way of thinking common? It seems so. But does that mean people won't buy it just because there's no Slash? Possibly, but as much as people say they aren't interested, let them take a look at it sitting there in it's shiny new packaging (because you all know shiny is the way to go) on the Wal-Mart shelf and not be at least really tempted to pick it up. Hell, even I will be, if only for the shiny packaging. So sue me, shiny things attract me.
But obviously GN'R aren't the only band to have such things happen to them. Take any band that goes through changes. Or actually, I've got something better.
"Featuring (band member) formerly of (former band)!"
How many times have you seen this?
How many times have you gone in expected the new band to sound like the previous one?
Okay, so it does happen on occasion, with an easy example being Dark New Day (as far as Clint Lowery from Sevendust goes), but not always. Nine Inch Nails has been another big topic around here recently, so let's take them and former drummer Jerome Dillon for example. Have you heard his new project Nearly? Nothing like NIN. I mean NOTHING. I recently got a review copy of the album Reminder (look for a review soon), and Dillon composed all of it himself. It's got some rock elements to it, but I can't even describe what it is. It's surreal, unique, just...as I said, indescribable. What about former Trust Company guitarist James Fukai? His new project (which I don't remember the name of at the moment) is an instrumental metal project. So is this enough proof for you?
Probably not. I'll take something involving one of our own writers even. Back when their album with new vocalist (who is now departed) Luke Caraccioli was about to come out, Jeff Modzelewski (yeah, I even looked up the article) said Adema covering Metallica's The Thing That Should Not Be is "shit covering shit." Granted, it's not a great track (easily the worst off of Master Of Puppets), but still. He said this not having heard the new vocalist at all. In my honest opinion, the band with Caraccioli was far better as far as writing goes. They sounded absolutely nothing like the so called nu-metal Adema of old either. Either way though, this is just an example. I'm not meaning to pick on J-Mod. He knows I heart him. Not in that way though. Back up dude.
In conclusion (yeah, I had to get there eventually), the whole point of this column is to point out how erroneous people usually are when making such opinions of a particular band without first hearing the music. We do it by genre, by specific members (or lack thereof), or whatever the case may be. Should we do it? Of course not, but even I (yeah, I'm not innocent in this either) do it. I fucking hate it, but I still do it. Of course music is not all it's limited to either. There's a lady I work with that I thought was the nicest lady for so long. Then I heard about some shit that she supposedly did well before I worked there. She apparently hid in a bathroom until certain people left so she could stay there until like six in the morning completely changing the way our clothing section is set up, pulling EVERYTHING off the racks and moving it. Now I can't help but to look at her in a different light. Did I need to know that? Does she still do it? No and no. All it does is unnecessarily make me think of her in a negative way, whereas I otherwise wouldn't have. She's still a really nice lady, yet I absolutely can not help but to think the way I do, and as I said, I fucking hate it. How many people do you think have passed by a band because someone incorrectly labeled them, or they had a band member previously in a band the person disliked? I'd imagine quite often. How many of those times do you think the person would have turned out to like the band had they given them a chance? Well, not quite as often, but you know it would have happened.
So will you continue to do it after reading this column? Of course you would. It's human nature to do as much. Hell, even I will do it after spending two hours writing this. But hopefully, at the very least, you'll think twice before simply writing a band off just because they have someone you've actually heard of in their ranks, or some dumbass music writer (hey, don't look at me you assholes) puts them in a category that they completely don't fit in. You know it has happened, and it will happen again. Just don't listen so much next time.
